An exhibition celebrates Cartier’s sparkling history
Behind a nondescript door in Geneva — and a lot of security — lies the brand’s treasure trove of historic jewels, a selection of which will star in a new show
Being invited to view the Cartier archives in Geneva is like paying a visit to Fort Knox. First, you’re chauffeured to a plain street corner and then escorted to an equally mundane building on a different street. Once in, you pass through several reinforced high-security doors, observed all the while on CCTV. There is a good reason for all the secrecy and security: this is the home of the Cartier Collection, the maison’s repository of more than 3,000 historical artefacts and jewels, the physical embodiment of the brand’s history.
The maison was founded in 1847 when the jeweller and watchmaker Louis-François Cartier took over the workshop of his mentor, Adolphe Picard. Despite uncertainty in the aftermath of the French Revolution of 1848, Cartier managed to grow the business, opening the first boutique under his own name in 1859. Under the leadership of his ambitious son, Alfred, who assumed the company reins in 1874, Cartier moved to a more prestigious address in Rue de la Paix in Paris. The brand enjoyed the patronage of several royal households, including King Edward VII, who famously dubbed Cartier “the jeweller of kings and the king of jewellers” for its pioneering work, particularly in intricate “Garland” style jewels crafted from platinum. It was Alfred’s sons — Louis, Pierre and Jacques — who ensured Cartier’s international success in the early 1900s, establishing luxurious flagships in London and New York, travelling to countries such as India to find extraordinary gemstones (not to mention wealthy and high-profile patrons) for their creations.
“We keep this collection alive, restore the pieces and keep them in good shape so they can be seen in exhibitions around the world,” says Pierre Rainero, Cartier’s director for image, style and heritage, and the man in charge of this precious trove. “We also have an eye on international auctions and the market, so the collection continues to grow every year,” adds Pascale Lepeu, the director of the Cartier Collection working alongside Rainero to determine whether an item is worthy of inclusion — such as a piece recently acquired from the Freddie Mercury estate sale at Sotheby’s.
Formally inaugurated in 1983 (though Cartier began buying back pieces as early as 1973), the collection is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. I’ve been granted an exclusive peek because Rainero and Lepeu, along with their colleagues, are busily preparing 200 objects for their next global pit-stop, an exhibition at the Louvre Abu Dhabi, where those items will join a further 220 artefacts — such as drawings, textiles and photography — sourced from institutions, including the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha and New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, as well as private collections, such as the one belonging to the Prince’s Palace of Monaco.
Opening this November, Cartier, Islamic Inspiration and Modern Design will be the 40th exhibition of Cartier’s creations since the collection’s foundation and is a joint project with the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, in collaboration with the Louvre. A reinterpretation of an exhibition that was originally shown last year at the Dallas Museum of Art, the presentation will examine the influence of Islamic art on the maison’s stylistic language, from the very beginning of the 20th century to today.
Many of the astonishing objects on display — from an elegant rock crystal “mystery clock” from the early 1920s (“one of the most valuable pieces in the collection”, Rainero notes) to a striking amethyst and turquoise necklace crafted for the Duchess of Windsor in 1947 — demonstrate the profound effect that the calligraphic, abstract and geometric motifs that characterise Islamic design had on the brothers Louis and Jacques Cartier, in particular, as well as Jeanne Toussaint, Cartier’s trailblazing creative director. “I think it will be the first time many of these pieces will be shown alongside the documents that show the specific process behind their creation. You can almost see the thoughts of Cartier’s designers as they worked and reworked their shapes. It’s unique,” Rainero says. “You will see a kind of permanent enrichment of ideas, how every new creation can open the door to something else in the future, which I think is a very optimistic notion. And very Cartier.”
Cartier, Islamic Inspiration and Modern Design is at the Louvre Abu Dhabi between November 16, 2023, and March 24, 2024; louvreabudhabi.ae
